Who Are You?
by Seviper
Summary: Well...uhm...this is just my first attempt for a DBZ fan story. It's a oneshot and ought to be a little quiz, because no names or places are mentioned. It's very easy, though, and...yes, English is not my mother tongue. Any critique is welcome.


First of all: English is not my native language and this is my very first attempt to write a whole 'thing' in English, so have mercy! This is ought to be a riddle or trivia and I'm very eager to hear your opinions. Every criticism is welcome. It should be very easy for those who know DBZ, and for every one else, I hope it will be an enjoyable ride!

Disclaimer: I never owned nor ever will own DBZ (although I would instantaneously adopt some certain characters cough cough)

So, just enjoy it. P.S: my mother tongue is German.

* * *

Who are you? Take a guess and you'll see...

1: All hail

You were born in the unquestionable belief that you are strong, mighty and qualified for to held the title of a true ruler. When you were just six or so years old, your father bended over to you and told you that, one day, you would be also as powerful as him, that it was your birthright to seek to greatness, to total victory over all who might come. Your were reared to were something, to became a king, a master of yourself and your own decisions.

Your dreams and aspirations shattered when this monster appeared in your life. And suddenly, as if you were an inconsiderable bunch of shit, everything you once knew turned either completely wrong or passed to the possession of the one being which drew off your rights, your family...and yourself.

Over many years from this point on, you had been the slave of someone else, someone mightier than you, even mightier than your father who was now nothing more but an hostage, an extortion to force you to work for this monstrosity. Those characteristics that probably would have made you a good sovereign are now nearly broken. You are stubborn, proud and sometimes very vain and therefor vulnerable, but at this time you felt like nothing could help you. This monster had broken your pride, and throughout the years, without knowing love, sympathy or true friendship, you became a coldhearted assassin in order to ignore the many lives you've taken away. It made you angry just thinking about how to kneel down before the new rulers of your home in the palace which once belonged only to your royal family, and at the same time wearing your crimson cape, indicating only you as a successor of your father. Yet, you were a potent warrior, with the blood of your ancestors in your veins, but you felt no strength. At the end, you became used to the mechanism of killing, of destroying, like your sovereign did. He killed your father – and anyone else who stood in his way. Your entire race was at the edge of extinction – it still is.

When you remember those times in an endless mass of darkness and planets, you see only three faces. One face is turned to you, with a nasty grin on it. He hadn't the long hair which makes a member of your race what he is. Nonetheless, he was strong, but no friend or something. He just used to follow you on your way through the galaxy.

The two other faces are harder to remember as you just saw them a few times. The smaller man has broad shoulders and a mane like a lion, and so he was. But he was a low-level pawn, a redneck as you would say now. Just like the second man, who you look on as the trigger for all the trouble that one day lead into the destroying of your planet. He was the leader of the rebels against the monster which killed him with the tiniest amount of its power, however.

They all died sooner or later, left in the sands of time. You survived after all and gained the chance to climb new heights. You landed on that strange planet, possibly beautiful, but first of all: worth enough to sell it. Your companion was just about to wipe off all living things on it when five men appeared, calling themselves the guardians of the ridiculous planet. They were no match for you and your hairless comrade in arms. You stood there, bored, with arms crossed and frowned at their pathetically jabbering mouths, hoping that your companion would kill them quick so you would not have to listen to them all day.

One thing they uttered made you almost stumble: it was just a simple name, but you remembered that he was the one who killed the first of your race who came to this planet, the lion mane. He was one of your glorious race, but he rather lived here on this planet and fought against crime! You remembered his father who was of low rank and got what he deserved – death. You looked forward to meet him, to fight him, just for fun and to clarify that you were the strongest in the universe, not that it was necessary. So you awaited him – and he came, hell yeah! You put all your energy in your moves, in your attacks and your insults. That was, what you lived for, being a warrior. But, beneath all your power, he was stronger than you. He defeated you, humiliated you, made you feel your face in the dirt on the ground, a place where it didn't belong. It was like your personal nightmare. You watched him, his motivations were so different from yours but somehow he managed to be a little faster, a little more persistent than you. At the end both he and you lied on the soil, exhausted to death and not able to move one single bit. You tried to crawl to your spaceship, to get out of this hell, your legs trailing behind you like an amphibian. One of those cowards tried to stop you, screamed as his sword dashed down. But he was so weak, your grandmother could have killed him easily. You heard the voice of that low-level 'fighter' behind him. He was begging him not to kill you, because "it was not hate that changed things, it was love". You weren't really listening, too busy getting away with your spaceship. You smirked meanly as it lifted off of the ground. Weaklings! You leaned back and sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.

But it was not the end, how could it be? Despite your fear how your sovereign would react on the failed mission, you had to return to what was not your home. And then those stupid shouts came into your mind: you can be great, you can be immortal if you want! You shook your head in sarcastic disbelief, but deep in your soul you knew there was a way. You remembered the other planet which was not far away from your current position – and which held a might, great enough to gain you a wish, whatever it was.

So the second ordeal of your life began. It was a long one but it brought you a new aim in focus: to kill the monster of your past, once and for all so it could not stand in your way to legendary. The opportunity came, but you weren't ready. The crushing defeat pushed you to the edge of your spirit, how could you now survive _and_ manage to became immortality?

Surprisingly you weren't alone, some of those weaklings were on the planet as well. You saw yourself forced to enter an alliance with them, they were fighting against the monster and its servants, too. The moron who you thought was even too weak to stand, much less mounting a working attack, fought against the monstrosity – and in a moment of unwariness... It was a dazzling shock running through all your bones suddenly. You felt like hit by a gigantic fist, a hole of pain burning in your chest. Blood ran down your face, out of your mouth as you felt the slow, cold hand of death. One last time you collected the last ounce of power, facing the brave but suicidal fighter. You implored him, speaking to him like a stupid child, but your brain was out of order anyway. And because your mask fell off and you had no more aim than to know that he was killing this beast, you cried, what you last did when you were ten years old. You felt all your vital force ran dry and then eternal darkness surrounded you.

Or so you thought. You were resurrected, it was like you were never dead. You had no memories of some kind of afterlife, you first assumed that you truly gained immortality and you weren't afraid of the death anymore. It didn't protected you from it either.

And now? At the moment you are lying in a king-sized four-poster-bed, a little bit tacky, but it isn't yours. The silk sheets feel good to lie in, a large pillow filled with fine feathers completes the comfortableness. And then there is this 'feeling' at your right arm. It is touched neither by some bedding nor by wood. It is human skin that you touch, warm, soft and elusively odorous. She is snoring at the moment, sunken in dreams. Her cerulean hair spreads all over her pillow, a contrast at her peach-colored lips. The twilight of the early morning makes her look even more beautiful. Man, never in your restless life you would have ever imagined to settle down, not to mention founding a family! But so it looks right now and you are quite happy with it. All dreads and threats from your past are gone and you begin to feel comfortable not only in this bed but in the embrace of the woman who shares it with you. You never realized that you were lonely, the only fellowship you ever knew was the one of men, warriors in a rage to kill or punish, but she makes you think of many things you never incorporated. Your blood line lives on, although your son and daughter have the light hair color of their mother. But you accepted that now, like the fact that you will ever have a rival.

After your previously mentioned resurrection you felt you lost again many things. Your honor was taken away by this peasant, a clown with a false name and the strong belief that his destiny is "to be the best fighter"! He feels never incongruous like you, how should he anyway, he defeated the monster who was terrorizing the universe all by himself!

And he ascended, came to a new level of being, of fighting, of making his enemies stand in awe. The ancient tales of your race tell that only once every ten thousand years such a things happens; he from all critters that creep through the galaxy must obtained it! It made you struggle deleting the gnawing thoughts out of your head that he was now invincible, almighty. It was your birthright to becoming such a grand warrior! Yours only!

After you found a 'home' on the same planet he was living on, you trained every day and night, only stopping to eat or sleep. You went to the very limit, consuming every single bit of mental and physical strength that you had, until then you trained on an alien planet, far away from all the blood-curdling people who wanted to make you happy and nice, away from that sick woman, away from that sad sack. You were just about to blast all the meteorites which rained down from above, dangerously near your spaceship when a gigantic, unbelievable big meteor appeared, just to destroy your ship, your life, your last hopes, it seemed. It was then when you collapsed on the ground, armor perforated, clothes ripped, blood dripping from many open wounds. You felt your anger and agony raising inside of you. A thunderstorm that raged on the plane fields of the small planet was like an outer materialization of the storm that raged at your own weakness,at the power of your rival. And finally, you screamed like never before, liberating all fury and temper. You didn't care anymore if he was stronger than you, you didn't care anymore if he ascended before you did, you didn't take care anymore of your life, of the ones you regarded as 'friends'. It was all going down the pan, together with yourself, dying on an ignoble planet. You did not bargain on what happened next:

you ascended as well. It felt like a total commutation. From wimpy and moribund, you climbed on a new plateau of power and physical options. Flushed by the adrenaline and endorphin, you quickly restored your force and were capable of returning to were you came from.

By thinking of this, a vague smile appears on your face, which is normally a mask of bleakness. You returned to your home, as the others call it, ready for fighting, for making your rival wish he was never born. But some surprise awaited you as you entered the big house you used to live in for the last months. You went goggle-eyed as soon as your woman stood before you, triumphantly. The small bundle she was carrying in her arms moved, made gargling noises. It was your son who is now a fully grown up man. The novelty snatched away your feet, although you did not move or say anything. From now on, many things changed, not only you. You did not fight anymore only for the thrill or the hate or the good feeling after a won battle. You admitted that there was something else in your life. It came slowly, though, and you pushed it away as often as you could.

For recent, you were eager to demonstrate your new powers and abilities in a fight against some artificial humans, tin cans without emotions and toughness. You persuaded yourself all the time that you were stronger than them, ignoring the warnings of the others and underestimating their deadly attacks. Soon, they seemed unbeatable, even for you. How can this be happening? you asked yourself many times. I worked so hard and the result was so little? How can they dare to humiliate me like this?!

No-one were able to keep up with them and not even your rival. He, who was by many considered as the toughest man in the universe, got sick, very sick, not able to leave his bed. Furthermore, those machines searched for him, to kill him, which was the only reason why they were brought to life. It was the perfect situation for you. It was the perfect chance to get rid of him, of the last scrap of weakness inside you. Instead, you tried your best to protect him and his family like all the others. The wheel of curiosities spun on and on, as a squirmy creature crept out of the dark and assimilated one of the walking toasters, turning itself into an even more icky something of a large bug. As some sort of a last hope, you and your son (the one from the future who came to warn the fighters around you because in his time line, none of them were alive) were sent in a magical room to train. And while you were sparring alone in the nonentity, denying your son who was eager to prove himself, a large amount of time seemed to passed off, but as you walked outside, only a day or so was really gone. Again, you felt stronger and mightier, a big plus for your ego, which was sometimes not fitting through the door. The others, your rival who recovered and his son, wanted to train as well, but a chuckle slipped off your lips. You told them there were no need of additional fighters because you could easily defeat those machines and the creature all alone. They warned you again, of course, making you wish they had no mouths, but you waved and took off, confident of victory.

In your arrogant self-assurance you allowed the creature to assimilate the second machine, in order to become a better foe for you. Naturally it was a mistake, a huge mistake as you realize now. Not for your former self as it stood before the new creature, which once again transformed and was now stronger than ever before. You paid a high price for allowing it to become such a thing: your son was attacked by an ambush of it and fell down the ground, the eyes void and the body motionless. Something in your head just clicked when you saw your son, your own blood, your successor, of course, lying there with a bloody face in the dust. You thought that there were still time to change things. You vanquished your rigor and rushed forward towards the enemy, blasting him with such a strong and explosive attack that the earth shambled and the surrounding area became briefly brightened by the garish light of the imploding energy ball.

Later, the creature was killed by the son of your rival who eventually overcame his fear and angst and were able to ascend like his father. In turn, his father died in the battle and he widowed his wife, although you heard there was a method to bring him back. You saw in his son a little bit of your own, a thing that you can now fully understand.

After the horrible time of constant battles and ferocity, there was peace, for real. It was the first time of your life that you knew peace, true peace, without to be afraid of the next contestant to your murderer. You became fond of your family and thought that you were now equal to this dumbass of a warrior because you got a family, too. You were still a prince of your race, higher than him. About this time, there were no fights to prove yourself in front of him and the much free time irritated you – what to do? You decided just to be here and train in case there is any problem coming up at the horizon. You sensed that your woman (you never married her because you were to worried about the publicity, you don't like beholders and neighbors) believed in you – maybe she was the only one on this damned planet.

The fighting tournament which takes place on this planet every couple of years was a good chance for you to fight again. You felt unchallenged, but for the sake of fun and alternation, you entered. Right about the final rounds you saw those strange men, unnatural corrupted and under the control of someone else. It remembered you bitterly of your years in slavery...but you shook your head, as if to cast off the memories. Full of enthusiasm you entered the ring, your opponent was your rival and the long anticipated fight was about to happen. He was allowed to return to the living in order to compete in this tournament and although you had many questions about how it was to be dead and so on, you focus on the approaching fight. How it all ended!

The person appeared who had those men and some other creatures as well under his control. It was reverently called a wizard, but you scoffed at him. How could a illusionist be more powerful than a mighty fighting prince? You did not see why physical strength would be worse than spells. It was his which magic created the most massive enemy you and your comrades in arms had ever faced. At least, he created it not quite alone. It was the fighting energy of you and your rival which awakened the ghost in the shell. You pretended to have everything under control, but you got worked up about the fight, your rivalry and so the ghost appeared, unbeatable from the beginning. You think in a lack of understanding of the time when the ghost was close to destroy the planet. You see then your tiny son, fighting against the monster. You felt there was only one way left. It would cost a high price, but you were absolutely ready to pay it. Since nothing could destroy the ghost completely, you decided to sacrifice your life in order to safe everything you came to know. You looked down to your son, realizing that you never hugged this five years old kid since it was born. Wistfully you did so, taking leave innerly. You did not know what would come next, whether it would be hell or heaven, but you had no hope to return like your rival did. You finally took pride in your son because he tried always his best and loved you for what you were, like your woman did. At the end, you smiled, told him to take care of his mother and to go far away. As he refused, you knocked him out, let him carried away by one of your companions.

As the monster came closer and closer, you stepped in its way. You were certain to take it with you, wherever this would be. With a last scream you sent out a gigantic hemisphere of all the power you had, burning and destroying everything in the range of thousands of hundreds of miles.

Your death was not what you expected it to be. Neither did it help to kill the ghost, nor was it a relief of any kind. You were surrounded by darkness, unable to think clearly of anything. Something burned in your chest, but you were unsure if you had a body or not. What kind of afterlife was this? you thought to yourself many years later. It seemed like an eternity that you were floating there around, in an ultimate state of uncertainty.

Suddenly, a deep voice emanated from somewhere, it told you you were not alone...and that you were allowed to go. Where? you asked, but there was no response. Instead, some kind of curtain opened before you, and you saw light again. You stood on bare ground, beneath you a big man, part demon, part human. Are you my personal devil? you asked again, but the creature laughed. We need you, it said. And above you you could hear the sound of light.

To your surprise, the ghost was still unbeaten, and yet you saw your rival fighting with it, as though he had a real chance. It was this moment that you, most probably silken due to your time in hell, recognized his true strength, his will and his possibility to beat the ghost. One last thing was to do, though. Your rival begged you to blend with him, becoming one in order to combine your powers. First you were very averse imagining a creature mingled from your body and his and at last it didn't really help, although you accepted. It was once again this redneck who won the fight all alone for the sake of his planet which he protected ever since. As this last opponent faded away in the wind and nothing, not even powder left of him, you sunk to the ground, exhausted from the fight. You faced your former rival – and he grinned wide as you gave him all thumbs up.

What else is left to say? Right now, you are old, but still in form and ready to kick everyone's ass anytime. You feel great as you remember those good old times. Aloft, there he might be somewhere, training or speaking to his wife. You stayed here on this planet and took his place. There are some things in your life that you are not proud of, but if you had the choice, you would do everything exactly the same.

You hear a sudden shriek from your daughter's room. You snarl, but stand up and go to look what she wants. She's laying some clothes on her bed and looks at you with eyes narrowed.

"Daddy, I can't find what to wear. I need some advice when I'm going to shop now."

"Why don't you ask your mother? I'm not your styling aid," you reply, bugged.

She pouts, she's a true daddy's girl.

"But you can baste the salesmen if they say something rude about my figure."

You smile gauntly. At least, she has your humor.

"Fine. But hurry up, I'm not waiting for you!"

And as you turn, you can hear her joyful _yay_-squeakers.


End file.
